WOD 3-22-12

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), was the French scientist who developed the process of “pasteurization” for milk, the vaccines for anthrax and chicken cholera in 1881, and the rabies vaccine in 1885. As a physicist and chemist, he revolutionized the medical field by establishing the germ theory of disease, organic basis and regulation of fermentation, and bacteriology. His research laid the foundation for the control of tuberculosis,, cholera, diphtheria, tetanus, and many other diseases. In 1854 he was appointed dean of the faculty of sciences at Lille University, and in 1888 the Pasteur Institute was founded to treat rabies and for advanced biological research.

In describing anaerobic bacteria, Louis Pasteur commented:

“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Into his tiniest creatures, God has placed extraordinary properties that turn them into agents of destruction of dead matter.”

Being one of the first European scientists to reject the theory of spontaneous generation and evolution, Louis Pasteur insisted that life only arises from life. He explained:

“Microscopic beings must come into the world from parents similar to themselves… There is something in the depths of our souls which tells us that the world may be more than a mere combination of events.”